It’s a great time for Superman fans, with the Man of Steel soaring into movies, TV, animation and comics. To help us stay on top of it, writer Tim Beedle shares what's grabbed his attention and why in this monthly Super-Family column.
 

If you’re one of our regular readers, you know we’ve been revisiting past live action Superman movies in preparation for next month’s new take on the character. Six months into the year, we’ve finally arrived at 2013’s Man of Steel, easily the most polarizing and controversial Superman film.

It’s not hard to see why, but it’s also not hard to understand why Superman may have been taken in such a dramatically different direction—at least if you understand the superhero movie landscape at the time.

First, there was the soft performance of last month’s subject, 2006’s Superman Returns. While I had some real problems with the Brandon Routh film, you can’t deny that it stuck closely to the bright, hopeful tone that was synonymous with Christopher Reeve’s Superman films. Only, in the early 2000s, people really didn’t seem to have much interest in wholesome, optimistic superheroes. The X-Men, superheroes who had to cope with real-world prejudice and misunderstanding, were becoming popular with the mainstream. Spider-Man, a brighter Marvel hero, but one who nevertheless was born out of tragedy, was setting box office records. On the DC side, you had Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight films, which were violent, mature and remarkably popular. One could understand why in the midst of all that heaviness, Warner Bros. and DC would try releasing something that was lighter with Superman Returns. One can also understand why when audiences showed little interest in it, their next attempt took things in a drastically different direction.

At the time, there were real questions as to whether Superman was too old fashioned and hokey. Many wondered whether he was too much of a boy scout at a moment when people preferred their superheroes with a bit more edge. For better or for worse, that’s what we get in Man of Steel—a reluctant, uncertain and at times straight up violent Superman.

My opinion on Man of Steel is pretty mixed. What doesn’t work for me is the romance between Superman and Lois and the ridiculous neck-snapping ending, which always struck me as both unbelievably wrong-noted and unnecessary. But there are also things I believe the film does really well. I love its opening on Krypton and appreciate much of the cast. I would have liked to have seen more of Russell Crowe as Jor-El and Christopher Meloni as Colonel Hardy. Michael Shannon is a menacing General Zod, and I’ve always been a fan of Antje Trau’s Faora-Ul. (I have the receipts if you don’t believe me.)

And then there’s Jonathan Kent.

For some reason, the actions of Clark’s human father have become a real point of disdain for so many and honestly, I’ve never understood it. Anyone who’s ever parented a child understands the urge to do all that you can to protect them and keep them safe—even if the best way of doing that isn’t always clear.

In telling young Clark to keep his powers secret even at the expense of other people’s lives, Jonathan Kent is just trying to protect his son. He’s not telling Clark to cause harm to people. In fact, he specifically tells Clark he shouldn’t fight back when he’s getting bullied since he knows how badly he’d hurt the other kid. He’s just saying that saving lives and being the hero doesn’t have to fall on Clark, even with his unique abilities, especially since there’s no guarantee that revealing those abilities wouldn’t have horrific consequences for the young Kryptonian.

It's something Jonathan believes so wholeheartedly that he’s willing to sacrifice his own life to prevent it. Look, I know the tornado scene is controversial—it’s probably the most reviled scene in the film to its detractors outside the neck snap. Is the sequence over the top? Sure. Is it frustrating? Absolutely. Jonathan’s death could have been prevented if he’d just let Clark go after the dog rather than insisting he do it himself. But putting both those things aside, if you don’t believe a father would sacrifice his own life if it would spare his son a lifetime of misery, distrust and possibly even detainment, I’ve got news for you. As far as Jonathan Kent was concerned, that’s precisely what was at stake.

Clark’s father isn’t sure the world will embrace someone who can do the things that his son can do, and honestly, he’s right to be skeptical. Once Clark puts on the Superman suit for the first time and reveals himself to the world in Man of Steel, it’s nearly an hour before we see him on screen without a bunch of guns drawn on him. Even at the very end of the film, the U.S. government—or at least its military—still seems pretty skeptical. The world of Man of Steel is much more mistrustful and cynical than the world of Christopher Reeve and Brandon Routh’s Superman.

Of course, it’s fine if you don’t like that. Obviously, there’s nothing wrong with preferring a take that’s more hopeful. However, this is the reality of this particular Superman movie and in light of that, Jonathan’s fears and actions seem pretty well justified to me.

What’s interesting, and also very sad, is that now, twelve years later, the darker world of Man of Steel is a lot easier to buy into. Just look at what’s happening right now to people who are viewed as different. This hasn’t made Man of Steel any easier to appreciate, at least if you’re not a fan, but it has made us all hungry for the return of a more colorful, hopeful and inspiring take on DC’s first superhero. Man of Steel and Henry Cavill’s Superman have had their moment, and they’ll always be there to revisit if you’d like. But for now, we’re ready for Superman to back away from the edge and take flight into the sunlight again.
 

With James Gunn’s Superman landing in theaters this summer, “Super Here For…” is revisiting the Man of Steel’s earlier live action big screen forays. Click below to read Tim’s thoughts on…

Superman (1978)
Superman II (1980)
Superman III (1983)
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace (1987)
Superman Returns (2006)

Tim Beedle covers movies, TV and comics for DC.com, writes our monthly Superman column, "Super Here For...", and is a regular contributor to the Couch Club, our recurring television column. Follow him on Bluesky at @TimBeedle and on Instagram at @notabard.

NOTE: The views and opinions expressed in this feature are solely those of Tim Beedle and do not necessarily reflect those of DC or Warner Bros. Discovery, nor should they be read as confirmation or denial of future DC plans.